Accepting Commitment
by crassreine
Summary: Meeting the parents. A hurdle everyone must face at some point. 'I don't wanna', says Ryoma. Shounenai. AtoRyo. Sequel to 'Avoiding Confrontation'.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

This is a sequel to "Avoiding Confrontation", which is a sequel to "After the Climax". In this I shall attempt to fill up some plot holes, dig up some new ones and leave some open. The last two I'm doing simply for my own twisted sense of humour.

The rating is T, for cursing. I can't for the life of me write without such lovely words as; Fuck and Hell. Go figure.

Beta by NDebN. Thanks.

* * *

Accepting Commitment

Ryoma was shocked, when a slightly overweighted woman in her sixties, with a spotless white apron opened the door, after he'd rang the doorbell. She didn't look anything like Keigo's mother, not if Ryoma compared her to the picture Keigo had shown him of his parents; his father looked a lot like him, only without the mole or blue eyes and a lot more wrinkles. Keigo's father's eyes and hair were dark brown. His mother on the other hand was a slender, elegant woman with brown hair, and blue eyes, almost exactly the same shade as Keigo's.

But she could have changed. Dramatically.

"Yes?" The woman in the apron asked.

"I'm here to see Keigo?" Ryoma asked, in case he had the wrong house. But it looked exactly like the huge, white, mansion like house he'd been coming to every Saturday.

"And your name?" The woman asked.

"Echizen Ryoma." He swallowed nervously.

"Follow me, please." The woman instructed, after nodding her head once.

Ryoma changed in to house slippers and followed her to the living room doorway, where she stopped and announced, "Echizen Ryoma to see Keigo-kun, Atobe-sama."

"Thank you, Mioka-san." A pleasant, clear voice said.

Mioka-san bowed slightly and disappeared to the kitchen, giving Ryoma a quick encouraging smile when she passed him.

Ryoma peeked in to the living room where he saw a woman that matched the picture Keigo had shown him. She was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine and smiled when she lifted her gaze to Ryoma. "Ryoma-kun. Well you are everything Keigo told me you were and more I would guess. After all, it takes a special kind of boy to keep Keigo's interest." Ryoma was too shocked to answer, or even blush. "Keigo is in his room. I'm sure you know where it is."

"Hnh," Ryoma grunted, bowed quickly and fled towards questionable refuge, Keigo's room.

He entered without knocking, just like Keigo always did when he came to see him.

And then he really wished he'd have knocked, because Keigo was standing in front of the mirror (nothing strange about that) holding a red dress in front of him. There were more dresses on the bed, in different piles. They varied in colour and style, some had lace and others gleamed with sequins.

"Excuse me miss, I'm here to see my '_boyfriend_'. Know where I can find him?"

"Very funny, brat." Atobe threw the dress on his bed and picked another one from the pile. "My cousin asked me to help her pick out a dress for her because of my supreme sense of style, and since we have the same colouring, what suits me, suits her."

"You're not gonna wear them, are you?" Ryoma asked.

"Of course not. But I won't put up a fight a fight if you want to try one of them. There's a little black dress that would look gorgeous on you." Atobe smirked.

"Fuck you, Keigo." Ryoma said. "I hope you didn't call me here to help you pick out a dress for your cousin."

"No I didn't. I want you to-" Atobe stopped talking when Ryoma's phone started playing the theme song for Star Trek.

Ryoma took one glance at the phone, said, "It's Buchou," and put it back in his pocket.

"Aren't you going to answer?" Atobe asked.

"No." Ryoma said.

"But its Tezuka," Atobe pushed.

"I don't care." Ryoma moved towards the bed and picked out a dress that looked like it was made out of fish net. "Someone actually wears stuff like this? There's a fishing hook on this thing. Seriously, fashion. Never really got it."

Since he didn't get on answer, he looked back at Atobe, who was staring at him with an unreadable look on his face. "Keigo?" Ryoma asked.

Atobe dropped the red dress on to the floor and advanced towards Ryoma. A bit scared, Ryoma backed away, until his legs hit the bed. Atobe grabbed him by the shoulders, knocked him down on the bed landing on top of him and kissed him passionately. Ryoma recovered from the shock he was in and returned the kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked, when Atobe allowed him to breath again.

"You don't care," Atobe murmured against his lips and kissed him again. Ryoma was a little confused. Usually you got a response like this by doing the exact opposite, by caring, but he wasn't complaining.

"Who's Mioka-san?" Ryoma asked.

"What? I kiss you and you decide it's a good time to ask me about our housekeeper?" Atobe huffed and rolled of Ryoma, to lie next to him, leaning on his elbow, smiling down on Ryoma, who was scowling at the ceiling.

"You have a housekeeper?"

"And two maids a gardener and a chauffeur," Atobe told him.

"How come I've never seen her before?"

"Well, you don't usually come here during the week. The servants have the weekends off. That's why my parents tend to be out of town for the weekends."

"And they just leave you here all alone? How come you don't go with them?" Ryoma turned to look at him.

"Well I use to, but not anymore."

"Why not?"

"I see you on weekends." Atobe smiled.

Ryoma couldn't really think of anything to say to that.

"About your parents… I think your mom knows we're dating." Ryoma said, remembering his first meeting with Atobe's mom just a few minutes ago.

"Of course she does. I told them about us."

"Oh." Ryoma mouthed and returned his gaze to the ceiling. Was it just him, or was it strange for a guy to have his ceiling painted pink? "When?"

"They asked me why I wasn't coming with them to their weekend trips anymore a couple of months a go, so I told them. They were a little surprised that I'd managed to stay in a relationship for so long, but took it pretty well. How did your parents act?"

"Aah… my parents?" Ryoma cringed. "You mean I should've told them?"

"You haven't?" Atobe shouted. "What are you waiting for? An engagement ring?"

"Don't be an idiot!" Ryoma scuffed. "I just… It never really came up."

"You are going to tell them, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ryoma."

"What? You want me to leave right now and go home so I can tell them?" Ryoma sat up, ready to leave, but Atobe grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back on the bed.

"Now who's being an idiot?" Atobe asked, as he smothered Ryoma with another kiss. "You locked the door, right?" He asked, while unzipping Ryoma's fly.

"Darling, does your boyfriend want to stay for dinner? Oh. Maybe I should have knocked?" Keigo's mother asked, as she saw her sons hand down Ryoma's pants.

"You know, ore-sama always locks the door to your room."

"Che. Get your hand out of my pants, pervert. Your mom's watching."

* * *

A/N: Oh so cliché, I know. I'm full of them. But there's nothing wrong with a good old cliché, right? Disagree? Do tell me.

Not sure if this is necessary, but it never hurts to be cautious, so; I do not claim any ownership over the theme song of Star Trek.


	2. Chapter 2

When Atobe admitted that he actually had no reason why he wanted to see Ryoma (_"I wanted you to keep me entertained,"_ were his precise words.) he decided to leave and declined the invitation to join the Atobe's for dinner. He really wasn't ready to meet the whole family, even if Atobe's mother had seemed nice.

Once out of the door, Ryoma dialled Tezuka's number. "You had something, Buchou?"

"Nothing important," Tezuka answered. "Just thought I'd let you know that the new indoor courts you wanted to play in the winter need to be reserved in advance and their almost fully booked by now."

"Oh shit! You anywhere near, Buchou?"

"Almost there. I could book a few times for you." Tezuka suggested.

"That's okay, I'll come too. I don't have anything else to do either."

"Oh? Since you didn't answer, I thought you'd be at Atobe's."

"His mom kinda… I'm not ready to meet the family, Buchou, and definitely not with my pants down." Ryoma whined.

"I see." Tezuka said and Ryoma could hear from his voice that he felt uncomfortable, even if it was distorted through the phone. "Well, I'll wait for you outside."

"Yeah, see you." Ryoma ended the call and started jogging towards the sports-centre where the indoor courts were.

He found Tezuka standing next to the fountain just outside the sports-centre, but he wasn't alone. Momo stood next to him. "Echizen!" Momo grinned, and waved at him.

"Momo-sempai." Ryoma said as he stopped. "Why are you here?"

"I asked Tezuka-buchou to get you here so you wouldn't have an excuse, this time. I'm taking you on a double date with me and Ann! We set you up with someone!"

"What?!" Ryoma squealed. He took one look at Tezuka and noticed that his Buchou had an evil gleam in his eyes! He knew he should have avoided Tezuka a little longer.

"I can't come," Ryoma sputtered, trying to excuse himself from the double date Momo had just sprung on him. Since Ryoma hadn't found a good time to tell Momo he was seeing someone already, some one male, Momo had no idea he was already dating and thought he was doing his friend a favour by getting him a hot date.

Why he hadn't told Momo he was seeing Keigo? It was really simple. He was pretty sure Momo, his best friend, hated Keigo. So, it was really no surprise he hadn't told his best friend he was dating someone Momo hated. He didn't revel in the idea of getting scorned by his best friend. He liked his best friend. He was his best friend.

Why he hadn't told his parents was a completely different matter all together. He just didn't want them to bud in. That was understandable, right?

Back to the present; Ryoma stared in desperation at Momo's grinning face, trying to find a way out, while Tezuka stood next to him, trying to _suppress a smile? No way! Does he actually think this is funny?_

"Why not?" Momo asked him, and Ryoma came up with the perfect excuse.

"I can't. I was gonna play a game with Buchou." Momo knew how much he valued games with Tezuka.

"His hand is in a cast!" Momo shouted, but Ryoma had thought of that too. This was not going to be like before, this time he actually had a plan that worked, and there was no Kikumaru to glomp him, or Oishi to foil his brilliant plans, or Fuji to smile his deceivingly innocent smile.

"He can still do some basic stuff. He needs practice." Ryoma smiled brightly. _Hah, take that! I can come up with a good plan! This is way better then getting my racket replaced._

"Does it have to be right now? You can do it later, right Tezuka-buchou?" Momo asked Tezuka.

One glance at Tezuka, and Ryoma knew his plan was going to fail. He shouldn't have left Tezuka alone to face the plague that was Fuji, Inui Oishi and Kikumaru. Tezuka was out for revenge. "I have poky." Ryoma said. Tezuka quirked on eyebrow. _Shit! That only works with Kikumaru-sempai._

"Wasabi?"_Fuji-sempai._

"Special magazines?" _His stupid father. What the hell did Tezuka want?_

"Of course we can do it later." Tezuka told Momo. "Call me later Echizen." Tezuka padded his back and left.

"Buchou!" Ryoma yelled at his retreating back, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Don't be shy now Echizen, don't be shy!" Momo grabbed his arm. "You already know Ryuzaki-chan and I know for a fact that she has a huge crush on you. I just can't believe you haven't noticed it."

Actually, Ryoma had noticed. It made him incredibly uneasy, that's why he'd been avoiding the girl for the past few years. He just didn't know how to deal with it.

* * *

Sakuno looked at Ryoma sitting across from her, stars in her eyes. This was it! The moment she had dreamed of ever since that day her prince saved her from the bullies in the train. It was so sweet of Ann to arrange this date for her, now she could finally be with her prince and live happily ever after!

"You gonna order something or not?" Ryoma frowned at her.

Sakuno blushed and looked at the list of different cakes the waiter had given her. "Yes, of course. I think I'll take… maybe strawberry?"

"Che, don't ask me. Just get what you want."

"Now Echizen, that's no way to talk to your date, no way at all." Momo reprimanded his friend, but Ryoma just shrugged.

Sakuno didn't mind, though. She knew her prince like no other. Ryoma kept a cold front to protect his sensitive soul. He was probably just as nervous as she was and kept throwing snide remarks to hide it.

"_I'm bored. I can't believe Buchou did this to me! I hope Keigo doesn't find out about this." _Ryoma thought.

"_It's so wonderful how his whole appearance darkens just because he's worried I'm not having a good time."_ Sakuno smiled sweetly, thinking Ryoma had reacted to Momo's words.

* * *

Nanjiroh was struggling with two shopping bags, cursing his wife for making him do the grocery shopping. Why did he have to do the shopping, he wasn't the one who was cooking!

He cursed out loud when the oranges spilled out of the shopping bag once again, and run around the pavement, chasing them, cursing some more when a man in a suit stepped on one of them. He was just about to grab the man by his collar when he noticed something that stopped him in his tracks. His son was sitting in a café opposite a girl, in a situation that looked undeniably like a double date. What's more, Nanjiroh recognized the girl Ryoma sat across from. It was the old lady's granddaughter!

Oranges forgotten, he grabbed the shopping bags and hurried towards his car. He had to tell Rinko that their son was finally dating someone!

* * *

Ryoma arrived home relieved that he had been able to get away from Momo before his friend had had time to suggest another double date. Too bad he wasn't fast enough to escape before Ann had sweetly suggested that he should walk Sakuno home. Ryoma had compromised by taking her to the train station.

It had been uncomfortable. Sakuno had walked the whole way keeping her eyes downcast and Ryoma hadn't thought of anything to say. When he'd said goodbye to her when the train came, she had blushed and thanked him. Ryoma had grunted, not sure what to say to that. The thank you suggested that the girl had had a good time and Ryoma couldn't understand how she could come to a conclusion like that.

"Oi kid, why didn't you tell us you were dating?" His father yelled when he stepped in to the kitchen.

"You mean you don't mind?" Ryoma asked, his gaze flipping from his father to his mother. They were both in the midst of making dinner. Well, Rinko was making dinner, Nanjiroh was harassing Karupin with a piece of fish.

"Of course not, Ryoma, we're happy you finally found someone you like," Rinko said, beaming at her son. "In fact, how about a family dinner on Friday? We all know each other, of course, but it would be nice to make it official, don't you think?"

Keigo at least would be happy. He'd just been nagging to Ryoma about telling his parents and now he found out he didn't have to. They already knew!

"That'd be okay," he said. Rinko beamed again and Nanjiroh asked if his son wanted to play a game. "No, I have to go do something." Ryoma said, thinking he could go over to Keigo's to tell him right away.

"Going to see that special someone, eh? Ah, young love! To be a kid again, walk hand in hand, steal kisses under the blossoming Sakura trees!"

"It's October, you idiot!" (1)Ryoma snapped, not at all affected by his father's attempts at painting a romantic picture. And no way was he going to walk holding hands with the Monkey King and you can bet your assess they'd be doing a lot more then just stealing kisses, if they were hiding under a tree.

* * *

The housekeeper opened the door again, but this time Ryoma wasn't so shocked and managed to act more courteously. He also didn't have to see any of the family this time, but was told he could go straight to Keigo's room.

When Ryoma opened the door this time Atobe wasn't standing in front of the mirror and the dresses were gone. Instead, Atobe was doing his homework. He looked up from his work when Ryoma entered.

"Family dinner on Friday," Ryoma said as a greeting.

"Seriously, you told them?"

"No, but somehow they found out. So, you're coming?"

"Yes, of course I am. So, do I bring the wine?"

Normal people wouldn't think of wine as the first thing they could bring. They'd bring cake, or something else inexpensive to eat. Buchou had brought a cake his mom baked. "You are unbelievable, Monkey King." Ryoma snorted.

"What? Don't be like that Ryo-chan. Where are you going?" Atobe yelled after him as Ryoma opened the door, ready to leave. "Come back here and help me pick out what to wear on Friday!"

"No pink!" Ryoma yelled as he turned back to face the room.

"I happen to like pink." Atobe told him.

"It's girly."

"It is not! Pink can be a very manly colour."

"Yeah right! Why can't you just admit you like girly things, like that vanity mirror." Ryoma pointed at the mirror on Atobe's desk.

"I'll have you know that's a family heirloom! It was once my grandmother's."

"Who brought it from France, I know. But the thing is, Keigo, that was only two years ago."

"Brat!"

"What, no Ryo-chan?" Ryoma smirked.

* * *

The long awaited Friday finally came and Ryoma admitted to himself he was a little nervous when he'd corrected all the paintings in the house at least five times and done the same to Karupin's fur at least ten times. "Don't worry, honey, I'm sure everything will go just fine." His mother patted his head and Ryoma felt the urge to check in the mirror if his hair still looked fine.

The doorbell rang and Ryoma jumped. "I'll go get it!" he yelled. His father snickered and his mother smiled gently.

He opened the door and the first words out off his mouth were, "I said no pink!"

"What? It's just a tie!" Atobe answered, gave him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth, with a pinch on his butt as a bonus and asked, "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Fine. I'm just glad you didn't bring anything embarrassing like wine or… flowers?" Ryoma stared at the bush of flowers Atobe held in his hand, along with a box wrapped in pink and silver paper, that Ryoma suspected contained chocolates. The roses were shoved on his face, while the box was placed on the side table.

The roses reminded Ryoma about the whole thing with Fuji, over which, come to think of it, they hadn't really argued properly. "Red roses?" His eyebrow ticked. "You couldn't think of anything else to bring? You had to bring fucking red roses!"

"Roses happen to be my favourite flowers. I don't understand why you're so upset."

"Yeah, well you seem to like giving red roses to everyone, huh?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I haven't- Oh! I get it. This is about Fuji, isn't it? You're jealous."

"Damn straight I am! Who the fuck gives roses to someone, when their boyfriend is standing right next to them?" Ryoma asked, fuming.

"Someone who wants to make their boyfriend jealous," Atobe answered truthfully, a happy smile spread on his face. He lifted a hand to caress Ryoma's cheek, making the younger boy blush.

"Oh," was Ryoma's ingenious retort. "Oh," he repeated once more, blushing even deeper. "And the time you were with him in the diner, you know, when those freaks you call friends followed you?" _And I hit you._ Ryoma thought, but didn't say it out loud. He just placed his palm where he had once bitten Atobe. There was no trace of his teeth marks left and somehow Ryoma was disappointed by that fact.

"We were talking about you and Tezuka. It was just after you had once again brushed me off for him."

"Okay, sorry." Ryoma said and was surprised how easy it was to apologize. He looked in to Atobe's eyes and they shared a long glance. It was filled with warmth and understanding and Ryoma felt a smile spreading on his face. It wasn't a smirk or a grin, just a simple smile telling the world how happy he was. He was content to stay right here forever, touching Keigo, looking in to his eyes. A word that described the feeling he was experiencing popped in to his head. He was preparing to say it when his father appeared.

"What's the hold up, kid? Your mom and I are getting impatient. Bring her in."

"Her?" Ryoma asked, stepping a bit farther from Atobe and dropping his hand from the other boy's neck.

"Excuse me?" Atobe was sure he had heard wrong.

"Atobe-kun, what are you doing here? Didn't Ryoma tell you his girlfriend is coming for dinner tonight?" Nanjiroh asked. "Never mind, I'm sure we can set an extra plate for you. There's plenty of food. Nice flowers." Nanjiroh smirked. He'd never understood how Ryoma could be such close friends with a boy that was so egoistical and snobby.

They all turned to stare at the front door, when the doorbell rang again, but with varying feelings. Atobe was mostly confused and his expression revealed that. Ryoma was almost certain he knew who was behind the door and stared at it with horror written on his face.

Nanjiroh grinned enthusiastically, stepped to the door and slammed it open. "Sakuno-chan! Welcome! Come on in! Ryoma's been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day, waiting for you!"

"Ah, thank you Echizen-san. It's nice to see you again." Sakuno bowed and stepped in. She smiled shyly at Ryoma, blinked in confusion at seeing Atobe, but didn't have time to comment on his presence because Nanjiroh was directing her towards the living room.

"Come talk to Rinko! You boys join us once Atobe-kun takes off his shoes. And maybe you can find a vase for those flowers, kid?"

"Your girlfriend?" Atobe asked in a calm, silent voice, teetering in the verge of rage.

"Shit! Dad must've heard about my date with her and made his own conclusions."

"Your date! You were on a date with her? What the hell are you trying to do to me?!" There was desperation on Atobe's voice.

"It was not my fault!" Ryoma hastened to explain. "Momo-sempai sprung it on me, he thought he was just being a good friend and I had the perfect plan but Buchou abandoned me! He's evil I tell you, evil!"

"Why would Momoshiro set you up on a date when he knows you're already dating someone?" Atobe asked and Ryoma took an interest in the piece of wall that was visible just above Atobe's shoulder. It was a nice, white wall, with a couple of dark smutches that might, or might not have been dead flies. _How interesting_. "Oh no, I don't believe this! You haven't told him, have you?"

_Such a pretty wall… _

"Look at me Ryoma." Atobe sounded different. He spoke evenly, emotion void. The voice was so cold Ryoma could almost hear ice crackling. "I am not dating someone who is too ashamed of me to tell his parents or his best friend about me."

"I'm sorry! I'll tell them it was a mistake, that I'm not dating Ryuzaki." Ryoma looked at Atobe's eyes, but could only see his own image reflected in them. Atobe's eyes had become like ice, his gaze was freezing Ryoma. It scared him.

"And you'll tell them we're dating." Atobe stated.

"I don't understand why we can't just keep going like before. What's the point in telling? Things are good, right?"

Atobe shoved the roses at him and Ryoma clutch them instinctively to his chest. "I love you." Atobe said. "I'd be willing to take almost anything from you, which I'm sure I have proven. But this… even I have a limit, Ryoma." He leaned in then, lips hovering over Ryoma's, his warm breath a strange contrast to the icy gaze.

Atobe sighed, backed away and Ryoma panicked. Still clutching the roses in his left hand, he threw his arms around Atobe's neck, keeping the boy's head where it was, pressing his lips against the others, inhaling deeply in Atobe's scent. "Don't," he whispered, not really sure what he was pleading for, but Atobe was scaring him.

"I can't," Atobe answered, whispering too.

Ryoma did not fight, when Atobe removed his hands.

Staring at the closed door, clutching red roses against his chest like some heroine from a paper back romance novel was probably not going to do him any good. But it was all he could do right now.

His mother's laughter reached his ears and woke him from the daze he was in. If he could just get trough dinner then he'd apologize to Sakuno and tell his parents he wasn't dating… anyone. Not anymore.

* * *

(1) In Tokyo, Sakura usually bloom from the end of March to the beginning of April. 


	3. Chapter 3

Rinko was surprised when Ryoma came alone to the living room, a bush of roses hanging from his hand. Nanjiroh had told her Atobe had arrived, bearing roses and she had thought Ryoma had invited his friend because he felt nervous and thought Atobe could make them all feel a little less uncomfortable. But the way Ryoma's whole appearance had changed sorrowful at Atobe's absence told another story.

It took Rinko awhile to get her head around the idea that she wasn't going to be a grandmother unless she and Nanjiroh decided to give Ryoma siblings and she wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having sleepless nights and diaper changes and later on deal with puberty. Ryoma's teenage years had been somewhat mellow and she suspected that was all thanks to his son's obsession with tennis that Nanjiroh had caused. Maybe he could do that with the other children too?

Rinko shook her head and focused on now. She had a son who was apparently gay and in love, while his parents had called a girl they thought was his girlfriend to dinner and Ryoma invited his boyfriend at the same time. It wouldn't surprise her if Ryoma decided to disown his parents.

And it wasn't all just about Ryoma. There was poor Sakuno to consider. The way she threw shy glances at Ryoma, it was obvious the girl had feelings towards the boy. She and Nanjiroh had really messed up this time. All they really had to do was to keep their meddling hands out of their son's life. But Nanjiroh's enthusiasm that his son was finally dating a girl had had been contagious and Rinko admitted that she had also been slightly relieved. She had begun to fear her son was somehow challenged when it came to socialising with the opposite sex. Well, that fear turned out to be true, but not in the way she had feared. It was a relief really, in some ways, to find out Ryoma wasn't oblivious, just gay.

* * *

During the evening Sakuno noticed that Ryoma was even more antisocial than before. Soon she also noticed that Ryoma didn't let the roses out of his reach the whole evening. If he wasn't touching them, he was looking at them. He'd even placed them on a vase on the dining room table.

Sakuno felt her heart sank. She felt sad when the one constant in her youth, her crush for Ryoma, her prince, that had the potential to grow in to a deep and meaningful love, was revealed to be nothing more than a case of one sided puppy love. Ryoma, it seemed, had found his own prince.

When the evening was over, Ryoma walked her outside and after closing the door and making sure his father wasn't listening, started speaking. "Ryuzaki-san, I need to apologize to you."

"You don't have to, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno spoke in a hushed voice, bowing her head to hide her hurt. "I think I understand, and I'm sorry. I… I hope everything works out between you and Atobe-san."

She didn't have the courage to lift her gaze to face Ryoma's and she didn't turn to look at him when she walked towards the bus stop.

* * *

"Seriously kid, what's with the roses?" Nanjiroh asked, leaning on the doorway, looking at his son's back. Ryoma was sitting by his desk, staring out of the window, a vase full of flowers by his elbow. "And why are you home? You're never home on Saturday's. You're always with that weird kid."

Ryoma sighed dramatically and Nanjiroh was so shocked that he lost his balance and almost fell face down on the floor. In a daze he walked downstairs and to the kitchen where Rinko was eating chocolates and reading the afternoon paper. Karupin was on the table next to her, playing with a piece of wrapping paper. The cat seemed fascinated with the silver gleam on the pink paper.

"He sighed." Nanjiroh informed his wife. "He sighed and didn't even call me an idiot, or yell, or even, scowl. Just sighed." He slumped to the chair across from Rinko. "Rinko, darling, I think we're raising a teenager."

Rinko chuckled and picked up another chocolate from the box by her elbow. "Break-ups are never easy, especially when it comes to first loves."

"It was his fault for sending the Ryuzaki girl away." Nanjiroh scuffed.

"You can be so blind sometimes, darling." Rinko smiled at her clueless husband. "Whose roses has he been brooding over?"

Just like Rinko, it took Nanjiroh a while to get his head around the idea. "That snob? Wait! Is my son gay?" Nanjiroh didn't wait for her wife to answer but ran upstairs to Ryoma's room and repeated the question. "Are you gay, kid?"

Ryoma turned around to look at his father, blinked and said, "Yeah."

"Okay then." Nanjiroh returned downstairs. "Wish the brat had said something."

Rinko just laughed.

* * *

Ryoma took one of the roses from the vase and plucked the pedals from it. He scattered them on his desk and stared at them a good few minutes and then did the same to another rose. When he ran out of pedals, he started plucking the leaves. He pricked himself on the thorns a few times, but didn't care.

He was down to twisting the stems when someone knocked on his door. He turned and saw Momo.

"Ann spoke to Ryuzaki and Ann told me what she said." Momo told him. "Why the hell didn't you just tell me you were dating Atobe? I thought we were friends."

"_Not this again! Soon Tomoko will be here complaining I didn't tell her so she could inform it officially in my fan club."_ The crazy girl kept sending her fan club news letters every month!

"Why is it such a big deal to everyone? Just 'cause I like to keep some things private." He grumbled.

"Friends are supposed to tell this kind of stuff to each other. I told you when I kissed Kaidoh."

"That was different. I don't hate Kaidoh-sempai." Ryoma returned to twisting the stem in his hand and got pricked by another thorn.

"So what if I think he's an idiot. If you love him, I can learn to deal with it." Momo said. "You love him right?"

"I think so." Ryoma mumbled. "Never told him, though. And now I can't."

"Why not? You break up, or something?" Momo laughed.

"Yeah we did." Ryoma said and stopped twisting the stem so he could focus his attention on Momo.

"Oh." Momo breathed. "Why?"

"The same reason you're angry with me."

"'Cause you didn't tell me?"

"Yeah."

"That's just stupid." Momo scuffed.

"Yeah." Ryoma twirled the stem in his fingers. "He thinks I'm ashamed of him. 'Cause I never told you, my parents. I never actually told anyone." Ryoma only realised it when he said it out loud. He gasped, covered his mouth with his hand, poking himself in the eye with the stem, screamed and fell off the chair, hitting his head on his bookshelf. Momo ran to him, placed a hand under his head, kneeling next to him.

"Oi kid, just because I'm okay with you being gay, don't mean I approve you doing stuff in your room. Besides, I thought you were in love with that Atobe kid. You move fast, don't you?" Nanjiroh frowned at both of them from the doorway.

* * *

After they convinced Nanjiroh that they were not, in fact, 'doing stuff', or intended to do anything like that ("Ever!" both Momo and Ryoma had shouted). Nanjiroh checked Ryoma's eye and head and proclaimed no permanent damage had been caused.

"Why don't you boys go out back and play some tennis. You can use my racket, Momo-chan, Ryoma can show you where it is." Ryoma grimaced at the way his father addressed Momo and after almost five years it had started to irk even Momo. Hardly anyone ever called him that, besides Nanjiroh and some of Ryoma's classmates who added the sempai to the 'Momo-chan'. That was cute. Nanjiroh was just irritating.

Nanjiroh stayed behind in Ryoma's room, stared at the ruined roses and shook his head. He considered throwing them away, but wisely decided to leave them be.

"_You'd think that just breaking up with his boyfriend would affect his tennis."_ Momo thought bitterly, after loosing two sets in a row. Ryoma had beaten 6-7, 4-6. Momo vowed he would at least win the next set.

He lost 2-6.

"What the hell!" Momo yelled, while trying to catch his breath. "You're supposed to be depressed over your break up!"

"I am." Ryoma answered, panting and sweating. "That doesn't mean I'm going to let you win." He smirked, despite his fatigue.

"Tezuka-buchou would be so proud," Momo told him dryly. "You don't let your feelings affect your game. Or maybe you should fight with Atobe more often, if that makes you play like this."

"It wasn't just a fight." Ryoma told him. "Wish it had been. Then I could just go and smack him in the head for being an idiot. But I screwed up and don't know how to fix it."

"You beg," Momo said. "That's what I always do when I do something stupid and Ann-chan dumps me."

"Yeah, well, Keigo's girly enough to pass for a girl, but he ain't."

"Just give it a try." Momo suggested. "What've you got to loose?"

* * *

Ryoma spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday trying to call Atobe, but his calls weren't answered, not even when he blocked his number. Atobe must've realized he'd try calling from on unknown number or had some uber-special caller-ID. Ryoma bet his money on the first choice.

He sent millions of text message's and e-mails. Their wording was different, but they all had the same message in them; "I'm sorry."

Finally accepting that Atobe wasn't going to answer him, he thought of a plan. He knew where his target spent his Sundays. He'd seen him there before, always with the same girl.

* * *

Sanada took the girl's hand and swallowed nervously. It was the most important day of his life. He was about to ask the girl of his dreams, Yoshida Aiko to marry him, in the park bench where they'd shared their first kiss and confessed to each other. It was their park, their bench and the day couldn't have been more perfect. Clear skies, the sun warming them with its golden rays and birds chirping in the back round. And best of all, no Atobe in sight. He'd even shut off his phone, so Atobe couldn't bother him with an Echizen related drama. The only relationship drama Sanada wanted to experience ever again was with Aiko-chan.

"Aiko," he began. "The months we have spent together have been the happiest of my life."

"Oh Genichirou, I feel the same way!" Aiko gasped and smiled the way that always took Sanada's breath away.

Sanada slowly slid on of his hands to his coat pocket, palms sweating, and grabbed hold of the ring box. "Aiko, will y-"

"Sanada!"

"_No way in hell! What, does he have a Sanada-radar, or something? Wait, that's not Atobe's voice!" _Sanada turned to look at the disturbance. "What the hell do you want, Echizen?" He asked, fuming with anger. His gaze of rage was just as ineffective against Echizen as it was on Atobe.

"Lend me your phone," Echizen ordered.

"What? No! Why?" Sanada sputtered.

"'Cause Keigo's being a girl and won't answer when I call him. But he'll answer if you call him."

"No way! If I let you borrow my phone to call him, when he obviously doesn't want to talk to you, he'll never trust me again."_"Wait. That's a good thing. Then he'll stop torturing me every time he has a problem."_ He handed his phone to Echizen. "Here. The pin number is 5932."

"Thanks," Echizen answered and took the phone.

"Genichirou?" Aiko asked, confused.

"Sush, darling. If everything goes well, we will never have to deal with Atobe's interruptions ever again and I can propose to you properly."

"Propose? Oh Genichirou! Yes, I'll marry you!" Aiko threw her arms around him and gave him a passionate kiss.

Well, it didn't go exactly as he'd planned, but he was still getting married. Maybe he should name his firstborn as Ryoma. If it was a girl, that is.

* * *

"Moshi, moshi, ore-sama shall now graciously listen to your humble words." Atobe answered the phone and Ryoma couldn't suppress the chuckle.

"Did you just chuckle, Sanada? Are you quite alright?"

"I'm sorry." Ryoma said. "Don't hang up, please!" Ryoma waited, hoping the next sound he heard wouldn't be the dial tone.

"Oh Genichirou!" a girls voice screamed from behind him and Ryoma glanced back at the happy couple. It was weird, seeing Sanada embrace someone so openly in public.

"Was that Yoshida-san's voice? Where are you? Did you steal Sanada's phone?"

"I'm not a pick-pocket! He even gave me his pin number."

"Oh really? What is it?"

"It's- Why do you want to know the pin number to Sanada's phone?"

"I wanted to know you were really using his phone with his permission, which I do not believe for one second."

"Well he did, since you're not answering when I call you from my phone."

"A wiser person would get the hint. I'm hanging up."

"I love you!" Ryoma shouted.

Atobe didn't answer for a long time and Ryoma feared the call had been disconnected or the battery had run out on Sanada's phone. But then he finally heard Atobe take a deep breath.

"That's it? You actually think you can fix everything by saying you love me? How do I even know you mean it?"

"I do! I love you Keigo!"

"It's not enough, even if it's true."

"My parents know and so does Momo-sempai."

"Did you tell them?"

Ryoma was tempted to lie, but knew Atobe would eventually find the truth and then he'd be in even deeper shit then he already was. "No, but what does it matter? They know!"

"I can't deal with this now. Don't call me anymore and stop spamming my e-mail." Atobe hung up.

Frustrated, Ryoma threw the phone on the pavement and it shattered.

"My new phone!" Sanada screamed.

* * *

Apparently Sanada didn't use cheap phones. How the hell was he going to get that kind of money? Maybe it was time to steal his father's credit card again. It had been a while since he'd done that. When was it again? Oh yeah, Keigo's birthday present a couple of weeks ago.

Ryoma sighed as he stared out of the window, rose petals and leaves scattered on his desk and floor.

* * *

"He's sighing again," Nanjiroh told Rinko. "It's making me nervous. It's so unlike him."

"It'll pass." Rinko said. "I remember my first love. I was fifteen, he was older, seventeen. We were so happy. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't moved. I was heart broken for months."

"Do not say stuff like that to your husband, woman!" Nanjiroh yelled.

"My point is this, darling, that I love you far more than I ever loved him and wouldn't trade my life with you for all the first loves in the world. Everyone gets over their first love, eventually."

"Not everyone." Nanjiroh said. "I'm still very much in love with my first love." He drew Rinko in to a tight embrace.

* * *

A/N: Fear the OOC; ness of Sanada. Can't write him in any other way, it seems.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Since this is the last chapter and the finale of the three stories I'm putting my final notes here. First up, Thank you NDebN once again for the beta. Secondly thank you to everyone who commented on any of the three stories. Some of your reviews gave me ideas that I used in the stories and all were appreciated.

That's it. Now go and find out if the brat and the Monkey King will live happily ever after.

* * *

Monday, after practice, Ryoma waited fifteen minutes in front of the school gates, until he remembered Atobe wasn't coming. Even after he remembered he still waited for half on hour, simply because he hoped Atobe would show up.

He tried calling again, but no one answered. He tried again and again and on the fifth time his heart jumped of joy when someone answered.

"Don't call again." It wasn't Atobe, but Jirou. "Keigo-chan doesn't want to talk to you."

"Don't call him that!" Ryoma screamed. "You don't have the fucking right to call him anything else then Atobe-san! Got that?"

"I have a bigger right than you. You hurt Keigo-chan." Jirou sounded like an angry bunny.

"You call him that one more time and I swear I'll hunt you down and make sure there'll be nothing left of you but a sweet memory!" Ryoma screamed with the rage of a wild cat.

"Eep!" The bunny went and hung up.

Pissed, Ryoma called again.

"I really couldn't care less for your drama, but Atobe's paying me to get you to stop calling him. Wanna split the money?" Shishido asked.

"You wanna double it?" Ryoma asked.

"Tempting, but I know the facts. Your family might have money, but Atobe has more." Shishido answered. "You might as well give up. He's not answering his own phone anymore."

"Just tell him he's being a girl."

"Happy to."

Ryoma returned home, put his phone on his desk, among the rose petals and stared at it. Finally he grabbed it and dialled Atobe's number again.

"Usu?"

"I wanna talk to Keigo. Give him the phone."

"Usu."

"_That was surprisingly easy. Wait, usu? Where have I heard that voice before?" _

"Kabaji?" Ryoma asked.

"Usu." Kabaji gave a confirmative.

Ryoma groaned.

"This is just low, even from Keigo. You know that, right Kabaji?"

"Usu."

"Wow, finally someone who agrees with me. Don't you think Keigo's being a big drama queen?"

"Usu."

"I don't understand why he won't just talk to me. It's stupid, right?"

"Usu."

"He's been completely irrational. Everyone knows already, what else could he want from me? My life blood?"

"Usu."

"Well he can fucking have it!"

"Usu."

"Sorry I yelled at you Kabaji, you don't deserve it. Forgive me?"

"Usu."

Ryoma felt better, after his little talk with Kabaji. It was surprisingly helpful to talk to someone who agreed with everything you said.

Still, it hadn't helped him much, in the way of getting Keigo to talk to him. Really, what else could he do except apologize over and over again and Keigo made that impossible, by refusing to speak with him.

* * *

"It's no use," Atobe sighed. "I miss the brat. I don't care if he's an insensitive little shit. I'm going to call him."

"No you can't, Keigo-chan!" Jirou yelled and snagged the phone that had been lying on the living room table with almost all the former Hyotei tennis team regulars around it.

Shishido was playing poker with Hiyoshi, Oshitari and Mukahi, Kabaji stood behind Atobe and Jirou bounced around the room, hugging the phone.

"Just let him call the brat if he wants to," Shishido told Jirou. "Maybe then we can go home."

"But then they wouldn't have solved anything, Shishido-san," Ohtori said when he came back from the kitchen, carrying with him a tray filled with cookies.

"Who cares?" Shishido asked. "I don't see what the problem is, anyway. So what if he didn't tell every single person in the world he was dating Atobe. Maybe he likes his privacy."

"He never told anyone," Atobe said.

"No one?" Shishido asked.

"Not even his best friend."

Shishido was rendered speechless and from the looks on everyone's faces, this was the first time they'd heard of it. Even Kabaji seemed shocked; "Usu?"

"Never thought you were such a push over," Shishido said.

Fortunately for Shishido, there were no plastic apples to throw at his head. But Atobe decided the cookies would do in the absence of plastic decoration.

* * *

Kabaji had been placed on phone watch and he sat on the sofa while Atobe hovered over him, extending a hand to the phone every now and then, only to stop himself just as his fingers were about to touch the phone.

Jirou stood in the living room doorway, not taking his eyes off Atobe, hardly blinking. It made his heart ache, how Atobe was humiliating himself over someone so unworthy of him, like Echizen. If Atobe would just think of something else than the brat, he'd notice that there were others who would have never felt ashamed at being with Atobe, who would never hurt him.

"Jirou-sempai," Ohtori said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" Jirou smiled at him and Shishido.

"You really shouldn't," Shishido said. "You know he's eventually just going to get back together with him, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Shishido-kun." Jirou answered with his happy smile back again, like it had never been gone. "Come play poker with me, Keigo-chan!" Jirou shouted, bounced over to Atobe and dragged him to where Oshitari and Mukahi were playing poker. Oshitari had already lost his shirt.

"He's an idiot!" Shishido barked, buried his fingers in his hair and scowled, when he found yet another cookie crumb in his hair. _"Fucking Atobe!"_

"That's not nice Shishido-san. You know Oshitari-sempai just doesn't have a poker face."

"I wasn't talking about that fake! I mean Jirou!"

"You know Jirou-sempai has always liked Atobe-san."

"No he hasn't." Shishido frowned.

"Oh. I guess I was the only one he told that. Shouldn't have said that." Ohtori wrung his hands together, a worried expression on his face.

Shishido really did try to suppress the amused giggle.

* * *

It was already Wednesday and instead of calling Kabaji again, Ryoma decided to go for a walk. It was a complete coincidence that his walk just happened to take him to the area where the Atobes lived. Not his fault Keigo lived near a convenience store. He needed Ponta and it tasted better when bought at that particular store. Strange, but true.

Since he was near Atobe's home and considering the people who'd been answering his phone lately when Ryoma called, it really shouldn't have surprised him that he bumped in to those three. Still, he was surprised.

"Echizen!" Shishido was the first to notice him. Hiyoshi and Jirou looked at him just as surprised.

Ryoma locked eyes with Jirou and snarled, while opening his can of Ponta. "You," he said with a voice that made it clear he had no gentle feelings towards the older boy. Keigo could believe what he wanted, but Ryoma knew Jirou didn't call Atobe _'Keigo-chan'_ just because they were good friends.

To everyone's surprise Jirou didn't back away. He answered Ryoma's glare with his own, albeit it being a weak glare compared to Ryoma's, it was still a glare. "Leave Keigo-chan alone," he pouted.

Ryoma thought he looked cute. He could have cooed. "I told you not to call him that! You have no right!" It was so unfair that Jirou looked cute when he was fuming. He bet Keigo thought it was adorable.

"I can call Keigo-chan what ever I like and if he doesn't like it, he'll tell me!" Jirou stood firm, while facing Ryoma's glare. "At least he talks to me!"

Ryoma was taken back by the low blow. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he threw what was left of his Ponta, at Jirou.

"Che. Now I'll have to buy some more." He muttered and left a ponta covered Jirou staring after him.

Shishido was laughing his ass off, while Hiyoshi tried to pretend he knew none of them.

* * *

Oshitari opened the door for them, but instead of letting them in, he stared at Jirou, smirked and said, "You know, no matter how much Ponta you pour over yourself, he isn't going to mistake you for Echizen."

"Yuushi, that is so mean!" Mukahi grinned at Oshitari's elbow. "But seriously guys, what happened?"

"We ran in to Echizen," Shishido explained.

"Here?" Oshitari asked and peeked behind them, as if expecting them to pull out Echizen from behind their backs.

"A couple of blocks away. He got in to a little shouting match with Akutagawa-sempai and when he was loosing, he soaked Akutagawa-sempai with his drink," Hiyoshi reported.

"You're getting stiffer by the day, you know that Hiyoshi? Hurry up and graduate already so you can join us at university," Mukahi said.

"It was the same when we left for high school. Remember, Gakuto? He was starting to loosen up by the end off the year, but we had to do it all over again when he came to high school."

"Why the hell are you blocking the doorway?" Atobe yelled from inside the house. "And why won't you let the servants answer the door? It's their job, it's what their paid for!"

"Shut up Atobe! Why do you care if were blocking the doorway or not? Go back to staring at your phone!" Shishido yelled back at him.

"Is that grape Ponta I smell? Why the hell would you idiots buy grape ponta?!"

"We didn't!"

"Then why does the hallway reek of it, ahn?" Atobe asked, coming to the hallway. His eyes landed on Jirou, who looked absolutely pitiful, ginger hair glued to his head and forehead, face and shirt covered in soda. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Nothing," Jirou sniffled.

Atobe opened his arms. "Come here," he said and gestured invitingly with his fingers. Sniffing, Jirou ran to his arms. Atobe sighed as he patted Jirou's head. He looked at Shishido who mouthed, 'Echizen' to him.

Atobe was about to ask Shishido to explain further, when he heard his phone ring in the other room and heard Kabaji answer it, "Usu?"

"Usu."

A pause and another, "Usu." It seemed like it was an agreeing usu.

"Usu."

This time the pause lasted longer and Atobe attempted to manoeuvre himself towards the living room while still holding Jirou. It was hard, but somehow he managed. He arrived just in time to hear the final, "Usu," and see Kabaji end the call.

Atobe wasn't happy. He missed Ryoma and the smell of grape ponta reminded him of the brat, not to mention Jirou was just the right size, so that if he closed his eyes, he could imagine he was holding Ryoma. But Jirou felt different in his arms and Ryoma had his own scent that Atobe had memorized. Despite how much of the vile drink the brat poured down his throat, he never smelled or tasted of it.

"Is ore-sama being an idiot, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

He wasn't sure if that was a confirming or a denying statement but suspected Kabaji had really meant what he'd said.

* * *

After his encounter with Jirou, Ryoma decided he needed someone to talk to, someone understanding and compassionate. He dialled Atobe's number.

"Usu?"

"Kabaji?"

"Usu."

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I really needed to talk to someone. You won't believe what just happened to me."

* * *

Atobe and Jirou had some free time during the day, so they decided to spend it by sitting on the grass near the library. It was a popular spot for couples and Atobe was starting to regret his suggestion that they come here. All the love in the air was so depressing when he was separated from his little kitten.

Though it was amusing, to see Sanada blush because Yoshida-san insisted on sitting on his lap.

"You could start dating again." Jirou said and Atobe's attention was directed towards him.

"No." Atobe shook his head. "I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I couldn't stand anymore meaningless flings."

"They don't have to be meaningless." Jirou spoke in hushed voice. "I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble finding some one else who could love you even more than… him."

"You can say his name, Jirou," Atobe said. "I'm not going to fall apart just because someone says Echizen Ryoma."

Jirou knew that. He just didn't want to say the name.

"And it wouldn't do any good, to find someone who would love me, because I could never love anyone else. Not the way I love him, anyway." Atobe dug around his bag until he found his schedule. "We only have a few minutes left." He informed Jirou, after glancing at his clock.

"So, you wouldn't even try, if someone would say that they love you?"

Atobe didn't really understand why Jirou was pushing the whole thing, but answered anyway. "No, I don't think I would. It wouldn't be fair to either. I'd just be miserable, comparing him to Ryoma all the time. I doubt anyone would even want to have a relationship with a person who's already in love with someone else."

Jirou sighed, looked down and blinked his tears away. When he looked at Atobe again, he smiled cheerfully. "Come on Keigo-chan! Lets go, or we'll be late!" He grinned, hopping to his feet.

"Wait up Jirou! We don't have to run!" Atobe chased him.

Jirou only ran faster. There was no way he could let Atobe see his face right now.

* * *

Atobe cursed when he tripped. Quickly he looked around to make sure no one had seen him fall face down on the ground in the parking lot. It seemed he was lucky. No one was around to witness his humiliation.

His irritation only grew when his phone started ringing. Without even checking who it was, he snapped it open and answered. "Moshi, moshi."

"Kabaji?"

Atobe was affronted that Ryoma would mistake him for Kabaji. He opened his mouth and said, "Usu," not really sure why.

"Great. For a second there I thought you were Keigo. So, had a nice day?"

"Usu."

"Yeah, mine was terrible. I couldn't stop thinking about Keigo and that sneaky little bastard. I swear, if he tries something funny, I'll string him up from his balls and light his hair on fire!"

Atobe was too shocked to actually even think of an answer that contained understandable words. Then he remembered he was pretending to be Kabaji, and grateful that the man only had a one word vocabulary said, "Usu."

"Speaking of Keigo, you think he'd see me if I went to his house?"

"Usuu?" Atobe said, not even sure himself, would he see Ryoma, if the kid would come to see him. There was no denying that what Ryoma had done, or not done, to be more precise, was idiotic and insensitive. Moronic and stupid. Not to mention just simply so Ryoma. He missed Ryoma, with all his brattiness and not so hurtful insults. The simple truth was that Ryoma was an immature brat through and through out, and it was one of the reasons why Atobe enjoyed his company so much.

Did it really matter to him if Ryoma was ashamed of him, as long as he could be with him? The hell with his self respect and everything else! Atobe knew that in the end, despite his parting words to Ryoma, he was willing to take everything thrown his way, if it meant he would still have Ryoma.

"Yeah, me neither. That's why I started following him." Ryoma said.

"Us- You what?!" Atobe yelled.

"Behind you, genius." Slowly, Atobe turned around. Only a few feet away stood Ryoma, still holding the phone to his ear. "You can hang up now, Kabaji." Ryoma smirked.

Atobe narrowed his eyes and snapped his phone close. "I tell you not to call me, not only do you not do that, but you insult my friend and now, you've started to stalk me? Why wont' you just leave me alone?!" What Atobe really wanted to say, was _'I love you, never leave me again!'_ Still, he couldn't. His pride won out after all. No matter how much he just wanted to grab Ryoma and kiss the living day lights out of him, he couldn't.

"I know I've been an idiot. Sorry, Ill never do it again." Ryoma said, and Atobe had a sudden urge to pinch himself. "No, I might do it again, anyway. I'm still sorry. I never thought it'd be such a big deal to you, telling everyone. It never bothered me, if people knew or not. I don't like it when other people stick their noses in to my, no, our business. But that's the only reason, I swear! I love you, I really do and am not ashamed of you. Or us. Never was."

"Sweet words. Never knew you could be such a smooth talker." Atobe snarled. "I don't believe one word of it." Still, all he wanted was to pretend he believed it.

"Oh, now you're just being a drama queen!" Ryoma yelled.

"Don't even try to turn this around! My apprehensions about our relationship are justified and you can't deny it!!"

"Ah ha! You said our relationship! That means we're still together!" Ryoma grinned.

"The fuck it does!" Atobe screamed, but was prevented from expressing his thoughts further when Ryoma stepped closer, grabbed his collar and yanked him down to a heated kiss. "I'm still not ready to forgive you." Atobe murmured in to his ear.

"Sure, what ever," Ryoma answered and threw his arms around Atobe's neck. And just for emphasis, his legs around Atobe's waist.

Without removing his mouth from Ryoma's, Atobe glanced around, looking for a nice tree to hide under.

* * *

"Monkey King, meet my father, Stupid Old Man. Stupid Old Man, this is my boyfriend, the Monkey King." Ryoma introduced his father and his boyfriend to each other.

"Brat!" they both yelled. But Ryoma was unfazed as he was targeted by two furious glares. He simply smirked and petted Karupin. Keigo shouldn't have any qualms anymore. After all, he'd finally introduced him properly as his boyfriend now.


End file.
